“It began with a single picture taken of a New York City firefighter in July, 2001 . . . and then came 9/11”

The Today Show

For over a decade, Laura Yanes has been capturing and archiving portraits of heroes in fire departments across America.

It began in the weeks before 9/11 and grew by word of mouth after the attacks. The effort was a “Thank You” to FDNY. The request from approximately 7,000 members of the department was to have a noble and dignified portrait to convey to their families their pride and love of the job.

It soon became clear that storing the images would be just as important as taking them. Future historians, firefighters and the children and grandchildren of New York’s Bravest will certainly value the portraits in the years to come.

As requests began arriving from other departments for similar photos, the work evolved with a new goal . . . Why not establish the first portrait archive to honor this generation of firefighters who have responded not only to 9/11, but also to Columbine, Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, San Bernardino, Oklahoma City, California Earthquakes, Wildfires, Tornadoes, and so much more?